Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announces major gift of movie posters

The gift, which will be housed in the Academys Margaret Herrick Library, fills some significant gaps in the Academys collection. Photo: Courtesy of AMPAS.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA.-The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it has received a gift of 1,088 original movie posters from the golden age of Hollywood filmmaking. The posters have been donated by Dwight Cleveland, a Chicago real estate developer, who has amassed one of the largest and most historically significant collections of movie posters in the world.

The donated posters document the studio era of B movie filmmaking in the first half of the 20th century and include examples from Twentieth Century-Fox. A variety of genres are represented, including westerns, war films, musicals, biblical tales, and social problem films.

The gift, which will be housed in the Academys Margaret Herrick Library, fills some significant gaps in the Academys collection. B-movies tap into the public consciousness and provide rich fodder for better understanding the times, said Margaret Herrick Library Director Linda Mehr.

Mr. Cleveland began collecting in 1977 while still in high school, inspired after seeing film posters in an art teachers classroom. After moving to Los Angeles, Cleveland scoured the once-plentiful collectors shops on Hollywood Boulevard for high-quality memorabilia. He continues to collect today.

I really think that film posters are one of the very few truly indigenous art forms of our country, Mr. Cleveland said. By making these gifts, I hope to excite an appreciation for the works themselves among members of the general public and also set a good example for other collectors.

Dwights collection was a dream to receive. Not only was it very well organized, but the posters also were in excellent shape. Our staff is fairly certain he was a librarian in another lifetime, said Anne Coco, the Herricks graphic arts librarian.

The Cleveland collection has been meticulously cataloged, conserved and photographed. Posters in the librarys collections are stored in climate-controlled vaults in Beverly Hills and may be accessed by filmmakers, historians, journalists, students and the general public. They are frequently shown at the Academys own exhibitions and loaned to cultural institutions worldwide.